


Strange, But Not a Stranger

by orphan_account



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Fake AH Crew, Jeremy is a tad oblivious, M/M, Ryan doesn't exactly help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:34:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21914503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After Jeremy is found by what seems to be a stranger while walking home in the cold, a relationship sparks between the two. He tells the tale to the Vagabond, who seems to take particular interest in this new relationship, for reasons unknown to Jeremy. It takes Jeremy a bit too long to realize that his new boyfriend and his crew-mate are a lot more similar than he first thought.Alternative Summary:Jeremy doesn't realize he's been dating the Vagabond for three weeks.prompt was: "I want my sweatshirt back"
Relationships: Jeremy Dooley/Ryan Haywood
Comments: 2
Kudos: 117





	Strange, But Not a Stranger

After a long day of ‘planning’ (read: shouting over each other and arguing which method would be the least likely to get fucked up) for the next heist, Jeremy wanted nothing more than to go back to his apartment and go the fuck to sleep. His throat hurt from all the screaming, and he had a pounding headache that showed no signs of stopping. Unfortunately, his tendency of making things harder for himself than they needed to be apparently felt like it was an opportune time to fuck him over. See, that morning he had thought it’d be a good idea to walk to work. It wasn’t a far walk, and it would allow for some much needed exercise. The part he had failed to consider was that he’d also have to walk back to his apartment that night. And winter nights in Los Santos? Unbearably cold.

The cold slapped him like a brick in the face the second he left the building. The freezing air felt like it was throwing needles into his skin with each wind gust, waiting only seconds before making his nose run. He hugged his arms to his chest, attempting to preserve warmth by any means.

He hadn’t even travelled a full three blocks before a car slowed alongside him. Without even looking at him, Jeremy guessed he was most likely some sketchy guy trying to make some extra money.

“Hey.” A voice called out from the car. It sounded like it at least had a disguise of friendliness surrounding it.

“I don’t need a ride.” Jeremy kept his eyes trained on the ground, not bothering to waste a moment and look at whoever had pulled up next to him.

“Good, that’s not what I’m offering.”

“I don’t want drugs either.” He had to assume that the driver was trying to get money from him somehow, it wasn’t exactly an uncommon occurrence in this part of the city. Or any part of the city, for that matter.

“Also not what I’m offering.” The driver slowed the car to a crawl, allowing it to just creep forward to match Jeremy’s pace.

“And I’m not interested in banging.”

“Jesus-  _ again _ , not what I’m trying to do here. Would you give me two fucking seconds to speak?”

Jeremy stopped, turning towards the car. The voice was… just barely familiar. Like Something out of a dream. The driver’s face was tough to see, a shadow from a dim street light laying over it, hiding it. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for the mysterious driver to go on about why he needed Jeremy’s attention so badly.

“Thank you. It’s fucking cold outside, if you walk for much longer in just that you’re going to freeze to death. There’s enough pointless death in this town as it is, and I’d hate to see your body show up on the news, especially knowing that I could’ve done something,” What was this guy’s deal? “So I-I’m wondering if you want to borrow a sweatshirt?”

Jeremy is fully aware of how suspicious this was. Some stranger pulls alongside him and offers a sweatshirt out of nowhere? Just because he’s irrationally worried about seeing Jeremy’s cold dead body on the news? Sure, it was cold, but not  _ deathly _ cold by any means. And it wasn’t something a sweatshirt would fix. But… that didn’t mean it wouldn’t help.

“So you’re just handing away your sweater to a stranger? Out of the kindness of your heart? There’s no tracker in it that’s gonna lead you to my place later, where I’ll find you robbing me or something? Or cocaine you’ve planted so you can stick the cops on me?”

“ _Jesus_ \- no, nothing like that. It’s simply a sweater. I promise. I will want my sweatshirt back eventually, though.”

“And just how in the hell am I supposed to give it back to you?” Jeremy said through his chattering teeth. If he had to spend another minute wasting his time and talking to this stranger in the cold he might be able to actually feel his bones turn to ice. 

“We can meet up again, same time tomorrow, if you’re not too busy that is.” Something about that damn voice sounded  _ so close _ to familiar. It was making it far too easy for Jeremy to trust him.

“Alright, fine.” Jeremy shivered as he spoke, which also helped motivate him to accept it.

The driver pulled himself out of the front seat, a gray sweatshirt in hand. Just by looking at it, it was clear that it would be too big for Jeremy, but under the conditions that was only a bonus. “Here you go. Don’t forget, same time tomorrow.”

“You do realize that this is the type of thing only a creep would do, right?” Jeremy said, slipping his arms through the sweater. It was already warm from the heat of the car, and god that was just was Jeremy needed. His arms already felt free from being torn apart by the blistering air.

“You’re the one who accepted it, what does that make you?” His voice was deep, but he spoke lightly. This guy had a sense of humor. And a beautiful face, holy shit. The orange glow from the streetlamp revealed the stranger’s face, and it was marvelous. Something about his hair resembled the Vagabond, the messy and poorly put together ponytail. Jeremy figured that if this guy was trying to track him with this sweater, he honestly wouldn’t mind just so he could see this guy again. Now he was frozen for a reason that wasn’t the weather.

Talking. Right. That’s something he’s probably supposed to be doing right now.

“Makes me warmer is what it does.”

The stranger laughed, a sound that, simply put, was magnificent. Without another word, he walked back to his car and drove away. It took a bit too long for Jeremy to realize that he should be walking home, and not standing in the middle of the sidewalk gazing at where the mysterious driver had once been.

The next morning Jeremy made sure to drive to the penthouse, with the sweatshirt safely folded in the backseat. He considered wearing it during the meeting, but decided against it, just in case if it was bugged or anything like that. The rest of the crew had a pretty packed day of heist preparations- and Jeremy did also in a way, but a much more boring way. He and the Vagabond were stuck on paperwork duty. They were supposed to be figuring out whatever they could about the building’s schedules, floor plan, every little crack in the walls, etc. They were going to be gathering blue prints and trying to contact whoever would leak information. It was Jeremy’s least favorite part of heists.

As soon as he walked into the penthouse, he felt eyes on him. Not just any eyes though, the  _ Vagabond’s _ eyes. He tried his best to ignore it, but he couldn’t help himself from wondering why he was staring at him like he was the last can of diet coke in the world. The two of them weren’t on bad terms or anything, as far as Jeremy was concerned they were actually good friends. But it’s hard to tell with the Vagabond. When he looked over to ask him what was wrong, the Vagabond averted his gaze and turned away from him. Well, whatever it was it must not have been too important, Jermey figured.

It went like that for the majority of the day, where Jeremy would be sitting at the computer or looking through stacks of paper, feel like he was being watched, and look up just in time to see the Vagabond look away. He knew he should be more concerned about this, but he was more than a bit distracted. his mind found itself wandering to thoughts of the stranger throughout the day. The image of his eyes was practically burned into his head. If he believed in God, then he would be fully confident that the stranger would have to be an angel.

At the end of the evening, an odd tension seemed to set. The silence was heavier than usual as the Vagabond and Rimmy Tim continued to drown in piles of paper and overwhelm their computers with far too many tabs open. Jeremy was thinking about anything but the heist. He was trying to think about the best way to go about meeting with the stranger again. Based on the amount of paperwork left, and the rate at which it was going, there was no way he’d be done in time to go meet the mysterious driver. He didn’t want to abandon his work and leave it all to the Vagabond, though, that would just be an asshole move. The minutes seemed to be dragging on for centuries, when finally he was struck with an idea. An idea where both he and the Vagabond could take a short break and be able to get the rest of the work done together, as promised.

“Hey, would you wanna get out of here in a bit and help me with something?”

“What thing?” His mask muffled his voice a tad, it was always a challenge to hear him accurately.

“Okay, it’s gonna sound silly,” Jeremy laughs nervously before continuing. “So I met this guy last night, right? And he gave me his sweatshirt because I was walking in the freezing cold. The thing is he wants me to return it tonight- actually in just about half an hour. Initially I’m thinking it’s probably fine, but it just sounds a tad suspicious, you know? Meeting up with a stranger? So I was hoping you’d come with me as sort of backup in case things go south?”

“You’re asking  _ me _ to be your backup for this… meeting?” Confusion and disbelief tainted his tone. Jeremy nodded. “Um, sorry, not tonight. But if you’re worried about being late, I think you’ll be fine.”

So much for sneaking out with the safety of the Vagabond. Now that he thought about it though… that might not be such a bad thing. If the stranger could be trusted, some one-on-one time didn’t sound like the worst thing in the world. It didn’t cross Jeremy’s mind to be confused about how the Vagabond knew that he was worried about being late.

“Alright, thought I’d ask just in case,” He shrugged. “And hey, if all goes well, maybe I’ll get the guy’s number. Man, you should have seen him. I don’t know if you’re into dudes or anything, but if you saw his face… damn, there’s not a soul on earth that wouldn’t find that attractive.”

“Wh-what?” The Vagabond’s voice went uncharacteristically high.

“Yeah, V, he’s  _ that _ good looking. Don’t even get me started on his eyes- you haven’t seen blue until you’ve seen those eyes,” He barely glanced at the Vagabond in the middle of his rambling, and notices his eyes happen to be a similar shade of blue, though it’s tough to see underneath the shadow of his skull mask. He might be imagining things. “And I have to admit, his mysteriousness definitely adds to that attractiveness factor.”

“You think so?” The Vagabond sounded more nervous than Jeremy has ever heard before. That’s when realization struck.

The Vagabond shared all of the traits that he was describing that he found attractive in this stranger.

_ Oh _ .

The Vagabond must think that this is some complex way of admitting feelings for him, that’s why he’s so nervous! Jeremy going on about someone who he’d met and found extremely attractive, basically describing him as the Vagabond, and talking about wanting his number, definitely sounded like an overcomplicated flirting tatic that he would use. He figured he should talk about ways that the stranger was different to the Vagabond, that way it wouldn’t be taken the wrong way any further.

“I mean, yeah! It’s not just that though, his hair was fucking gorgeous too. It was angelic, even if it was messy. God knows how good it would look if he wore it down.” Shit. That didn’t really help, now did it. The Vagabond had hair just like him- he even thought that when he saw him! Let’s try that again. “And his voice! Now  _ that _ , that could just about melt anyone’s heart. I’m telling you man, this guy was legendary.”

“Well I, uh- I hope you’re able to, to uh- I hope he gives you his number so you two can- can see each other and… and get together again.”

Jeremy had a sinking feeling he had made it worse. He decided to try one more time to clarify that it was  _ not _ the Vagabond that he was describing.

“Yeah. It’s a shame that relationships are so tough in crews, especially when one of the people is just a civilian. Guess that’s better than being in a rival crew though, right?”

“How do you know your attractive stranger isn’t in a crew?” The best way to tell if the Vagabond was smiling was through his tone, since he never took off his mask, and right now his smile was obvious.

Jeremy thought for a moment. “I guess I don’t know for sure. But I got a feeling that someone in a crew wouldn’t just hand away a sweatshirt to a random guy on the street. He went on about disliking all the death in the city too. It’s tough to find a guy like that in a crew.”

“Actually, I think the intent of that was more about how he didn’t want to see  _ you _ die.”

“You might be right on that one.” At this point, Jeremy’s brain  _ should _ have told him that the Vagabond had just a tad more knowledge on this interaction than he should. He  _ should _ have sniffed out that something seemed just a little off. He didn’t.

\---

Even though he was late to meet the stranger, it seemed like he arrived around the same time that Jeremy did, which was fantastically convenient. Jeremy went to give him the sweatshirt at the same time that the stranger gave him a slip of paper with seven numbers on it.

“Are you-- is this your phone number?”

The stranger winked. “Y’know, in case you ever need a sweatshirt, or anything else.”

“I don’t even know your name.” Jeremy pointed out.

“It’s Ryan.”

“Jeremy.” They shook hands and bid farewells, but it wasn’t long until they saw each other again.

**

It had been three weeks since Jeremy and Ryan had started dating, and if he was being totally honest, it had been one of the best relationships he’s had. There was something about Ryan, where he was able to understand Jeremy on a whole new level- just being around him lit a spark in Jeremy, one he didn’t even know he had.

Interestingly, the Vagabond had a particular interest in their relationship too, for reasons unbeknownst to Jeremy. He was happy to keep him updated about it, it was actually really nice to have someone to talk to. And to put the cherry on top of the lovely sundae, Jeremy felt like he and the Vagabond were closer than ever now.

Little did he know.

When he showed up at the penthouse the day after a very nice date with Ryan, the Vagabond ran into him almost instantly.

“Rimmy Tim, hey! How was your date last night?”

“Went amazing, actually. Wait, I don’t remember telling you that we were going out last night?” How would he know…?

The Vagabond pointed to a bruise-like spot on his neck. “Don’t need to tell me when you don’t bother to hide the evidence. Certainly seems like you had fun.”

Jeremy felt his face heat up.  _ Shit _ , he probably should’ve done something to even attempt to help with that. He laughed nervously, struggling to come up with some sort of response that wasn’t completely embarrassing, but came up empty.

“You going out again tonight?” the Vagabond inquired

“He mentioned going out for dinner earlier this morning, but we don’t have anything officially planned.”

“Is that not official?”

“I mean, we don’t have a time or restaurant picked out of anything.”

Just then, Geoff called them to the meeting room. The heist was due to commence in just a few days, so scheduling was a bit tighter. As they were in the meeting, Jeremy’s phone received a text from Ryan with a time and location for dinner. Right after he checked it, Jack scolded the Vagabond for being on his phone while Geoff was talking. Jeremy marked it as a funny coincidence.

\---

After a nice dinner at an expensive restaurant with servings that were incredibly small, Ryan had pulled to the curb outside of Jeremy’s apartment, and they were saying their goodbyes for the night. As Jeremy went to kiss his boyfriend, something in the backseat caught his eye. A black skull mask. Exactly like the Vagabond had. He froze.

“Why do you have that?” His tone was filled with caution. This could only mean bad news. Jeremy was immediately overwhelmed with anxieties. What if Ryan knew he was in the Fake AH Crew and was using him to get to the Vagabond all along, or what if the Vagabond had unknowingly cornered Ryan earlier, and he had no choice but to defend himself, and now Jeremy was down a crew member?

“Oh, that? It’s my mask, I always keep a spare in my car. Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on using it tonight.” Ryan said, far too casual, as if this was just any other normal interaction.

“‘A spare’? ‘Using it’? What the fuck does that mean?”

“Well, just in case Geoff calls and I left my mask somewhere, or I lose it during a heist, I like to have a spare ready in my car. It’s just to be safe.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? How do you-- wait--”

“Jeremy? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Of course I’m not okay! Are you trying to tell me that you’re the Vagabond?! Ryan, please tell me this is some awful joke.”

“What? I- I thought you knew! I wasn’t trying to hide it or anything!”

“What?! This whole time you thought I  _ knew _ ? Ryan, I’ve been talking to  _ the Vagabond _ about our relationship since we met. How would you think I knew?!”

“I thought you were teasing, like it was a running joke! Or maybe you wanted it to be a secret from the crew! I was trying to play along!”

Holy fuck. Jeremy’s been dating the Vagabond for weeks and had no clue.

“I… I think I need a minute.” Jeremy went to open his door, but Ryan-- the Vagabond, caught his hand.

“Jeremy, I’m truly sorry. I really thought you knew, if I had known that you didn’t I would’ve said something.”

Holding Ryan’s hand felt so natural, he really wished that he wasn’t just hit with an unbelievable info bomb that might’ve just fucked things up between them. Jeremy wanted nothing more than to simply say it was fine and move on, but god damn it, it wasn’t fine.

Even if it wasn’t on purpose, he felt like he’d been lied to for weeks, by both his best friend and boyfriend, who apparently were one in the same. He took a deep breath in and tried to summon as much patience as possible.

“Ok. We’re gonna need to have a talk. Come inside.” Jeremy didn’t want this to be the end of them, and he had a strong feeling Ryan felt the same. He desperately hoped they could talk this out and land on an understanding that made them both feel better.


End file.
